Bicycle wheel brace



Sept. 1952 c. R. ROTHE ET AL BICYCLE WHEEL BRACE Filed June 14. 1949fnqenfoms'" Charles H. Raf/ 113 Patented Sept. 2, 1952 csito, Chicago,Ill. assignorsf-to Container- ,Gorl notation of.America, Chicago, 111.,a rcoirnora- 'tion' offD'elaware .rAnplication Jnnelyi,1949;;Serial-Ncel19m89 .4 Claims. (CL 20646') :This.invezitionJrelatesto a packin brace and blank therefor formed of sheetmaterial for hold? ing a. wheellor. other-article within an outercontainer-etc prevent shifting; of the ,articlejduringi transportation.More. particularly the c present.

invention relates-to. a packingbrace and ,lclank therefor; that can.vbeesecured fricticnally ,on.-,the tire; element of;- a =w;heelwithsother portions of the brace bearing againstzthe interior walls,.ofyiarshipp rlgscontainer to @maintain the wheel against,

shifting-1 movement. in several. directions.

The brace-embodyin @the present inventicm is. particularly adapted foruse with a tired .wheels such aslbicyclezwheels, but isnotlimited-ttosuch use, as .it his alsogadaptable. for packing, and, bracing-various.other articles. general. the.

brace ccomprisesua pluralitycf tire engaging,

panels held, ;,:-by1 suitable connecting means, in spaced relationtoseachiotherlso asto. en age the periphery of a wheel. atcspaced,points the ap- .4

posite; edgesofsthe panels beingl-adaptedito conntacttheinteriorasurfaces oiLoneor'moreiwallsiof an: enclosingvccntainersadapted; or shipment-c :of the article to. becbraced.

.llt is an object ,of' the invention to provide a.-

simple and: easily.- .assembledibrace of ,sheet ,material.ioreholdingeapacked articles. such as a bicycle wheel from shiftin movement .Lduringshipment. Another. object is--torprovideraibrace. thatcan be securedfrictionally on ,a .wheel, pref erably the -rearhwheelgof a bicyclepreparatory-to insertion; of the v partly-assembled =bicycle v intoe arelatively-narrow, deep-and uelongatedls containerwhichiwillprathenesnugly contain ah-bicycle with the iwheelssassembledwith. the: .frame but: with A-l-iurthen object'l-is-to tormthebrace ofsasin le; blank rof. =foldab1e.=sheet imaterial Tsuchlas. .paperboardwhich has-been suitably;cutcandzcreased to.;enable.-it,tobe-lshippedsfiat to the; users and by;

such iusen quickly andz-easily -set upzloy the Inset of,

convenient materials such has staples or sadhesive. V v

Additlonalobj ectsandadvantagesof vthe present-inventionwilllbecomelapparent atrom y-theiol- 51 lowing ndescriptioniandi from the.drawings, in.

which: 7

. Figs-1 isaan elevational-jview of; ae-partially assembledlbicycle inzashipping container-with, one

wall, of, the. container-:heingillustrated: as; beingpartially-oJcrckenz-away, .v the r-wheelirbrace of.thenresentz=invention beings:engaged withwtheerear h el; 1 c teEigltk-is amerspectivesyiewtoflztherwheelzbracei as itappearstwhemset:upiancrreadyxforzassembly;

with a bicycleiwheehtand 335 handlehbars seatoand pedaljzelementsdetached Ri 3- is. .a plan view off-a p efer-red iformrjci.

blank iromrfwhich therwheel brace ,is termed.

Referring to Figrl-of the drawings, a partially,

assembledr-bicyc-le A, aincluding the-front sandv rear wheels: B andCV,- is shown inraishipping cqntainer. D, {one of the principal-walls ofwhich-has been-:brcken away to show then-packing; arrangee ment. Thewheel brace of this invention clesig natedsasa whole at l 0, isillustrated as :applied to l-thea-near wheel C.

The :blank for; the .w-heeL brace, illustrated -in Fig. 2,mayhe;,nrianutactured'from-any suitable sheet material such {ascorrngatedpaperbeard. ,;A panel 11., wh c may; f r-v conveniencebe/{termed the lowertireseneaging.--pane1,-,is fer-m d central- 1y I ofthe blank. On each sideof panel l-lrzandtder,

fined therefrom :by I crease lines l 2, l 2; are .;-cform ed' sectionsor: panels 1-3;. and I 4.whic;h,.: forK -convenit ience,arersometimesherein referred ,.toias.,-yertically-aextending sections. At theqendaofsection, l 37 there is? provided; a pane1 por tionl 5= defined" fromthe-Section; I3 by crease. line -16. OnvtlJe remoteend-oi, section ,I 4;there is provicledapanel.

portion I! defined from section L L4 by crease;

line I 8.

- s-illustrated Ei a 3:- the panel; portions; I 5

and. l-l-.-willvbe brought: toilie fiatagainst each other,- .-ancl-inthis positiontheyrarepreferably" two -panel portionsl 5,;andl1-:tggether- -constitute; whatmayhheltermed the where-Wheelsen a ing;'

panel. The; sections l 3 Hand l 4 wcorn-prise nnectine means -,1b tw ehe-upp r -van .-lower panels adapted to retain lthemyin, fixedrelatiomta each, other.

r the purpose: cfiincreasingthe bearin surface andilto1facilitate;accurate{assemblyhis the;v

brace ,an-yadditiqnal oresupplemental panel opprtion; zn isu formed-asanextension .on th jegeeef panel portion -11. -'I,his; pane1 portionispesitioned so as to be bent down around therean-edge of panel portioni5-.,and; to. il riclerliethis panel portion. In :order vtovvaccoinmndlatethethicknessv oi the pan l portion l5la doubleewidth-craseline 2 luisaiformediin the paperboard lbetween p orticns K I Ix-and-241. It is to ,be notedthat panelfl 0 :serves, to. strengthencnreinforce therane s tan emare; each, preferably; formedwith; a:tire-receiving; opening indicated 1 at. 2 5; 25, 2 I and .-;2 8-,

be varied they are preferably made oigenerally U-shape/wi-th the.entrance to thee-Opening semewhatrestricted. The-main=part of theQpgningjs preferably? made: ,with a 2 diameter slightly less thanthetirezdiameter. Therpanels cangthusgpc;

EQG tively. While the shape of these openings engaged frictionally withthe tire of a bicycle wheel. The frictional gripping of the brace withthe tire is not an indispensable part of the invention but is preferredas this feature enables the packer to secure the brace upon a bicyclewheel and thendeposit the assembled bicycle and brace within theshipping container to assume the position indicated in Fig. 1.

For a given size bicycle wheel the parts of the brace will be made ofsuflicient size so that the upper panel will preferably engage the tireupon a plane passing through the axis of the wheel and as nearlyapproaching the horizontal as permitted by the rear mudguard, and thesize of the outer shipping container is such that when the bicycle is inits final position the rear edge of the upper panel will be in contactwith the narrow end wall of the shipping container.

The line of juncture of'the sections l3 and M with the panel I l ispreferably at an acute angle with respect to the upper panel whereby thelower panel II will extend radially outwardly of the wheel and the loweredge of panel I I will preferably come to rest on the inner surface ofthe shipping container along the line of connection between the narrowend wall and the bottom wall of the container.

The width of upper and lower tire engaging panels is preferably the sameas the interior width of the shipping container to prevent or minimizesidewise movement of the wheel.

The front wheel may be braced in with any desired form of bracingelements indicated at 30 and 3| which will tend to prevent sidewisemovement of the front wheel.

The shipping unit will also preferably include a box 32 for handle bars,seat and pedals.

In the use of the wheel brace of the present invention the brace, afterbeing assembled from the flat blank as described above, is placedfrictionally on the rear tire of a bicycle with the tapered portion ofthe brace directed downward.

The front wheel braces will be placed on the front wheel and the bicyclewith braces secured on the wheels can be inserted into a shippingcontainer through the open top. The tapered shape of the rear wheelbrace tends to simplify After the bicycle has been placed within thecontainer, as above described, it is only necessary to close the top ofthe container and the bicycle is ready for shipment.

While the foregoing description sets forth a preferred embodiment of theinvention, certain changes may be made'in the construction withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention, and it is therefore, desiredthat the present embodiment be considered in all respects asillustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appendedclaims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope ofthe invention.

We claim:

A paperboard packing brace adapted for disposition in a shippingcontainer to hold a wheel spaced axially from parallel walls thereof andradially from another wall connecting the 4 parallel walls, whichcomprises a tubular structure defined by two spaced end panels havingfront, rear, and side edges and disposed at an acute angle to each otherwith the front edges closer than the rear edges, the end panels beingsubstantially equal in width but unequal in length, and a pair of sidepanels extending between the side edges of the end panels, the endpanels having recesses formed in their front edges spaced from both sidedges and shaped to the cross section of the circumferential portion ofa wheel to be braced, the rear edges of the panels lying in a commonplane, whereby the brace may be disposed in an enclosing container withits forward portion frictionally engaged on the wheel with its rearportion engaging the connecting wall and with the rear edge of thelonger of said end panels engaging in a corner of said carton and thside panels engaging the parallel walls to maintain the wheel spacedfrom'such Walls.

2. A packing brace of paperboard adapted to be disposed in a shippingcontainer having parallel side walls and bottom and end walls connectingthe side walls for holding a wheel spaced axially from the side wallsand radially from an end wall, which comprises a tubular structure ofrectangular section defined by two spaced end panels substantially equalin widthbut unequal in length and having front, rear,'

and side edges and disposed at-an angle to each other corresponding tothe angle between two wheel radii with the front edges closer than therear edges, a pair of side panels integral withone of the end panelsextending between corresponding side edges of the end panels, one of theside panels being also integral with the other tainer with its forwardportion frictionally engaged on the wheel with its rear portion engaging the connecting wall and with the rear edge of the longer end panelengaging the intersec tion of the bottom and one of said end walls andthe side panels engaging th parallel walls' to maintain the wheel spacedfrom such walls.

3. A paperboard packing brace for disposition in a shipping container tohold a wheel spaced axially from parallel walls thereof and radiallyfrom a wall connecting the parallel walls, which comprises two spacedsubstantially rectangular panels of unequal length but of a widthsubstantially equal to the distance between the parallel container wallsdisposed at an acute angle to each other with corresponding side'edgesin parallel planes, the edges of the panels nearest each other havingsimilar recesses therein spaced from the side edgesand shaped to thecross section of the circumferential portion of a wheel to be braced,and a pair of side panels connecting the corresponding side edges of therectangular panels, whereby the brace may befrictionally engaged on awheel by means of said recesses and disposed in an enclosing containerwith the side panels in surface contact wlththe' parallel walls and edgeportions of the rectangu-' lar panels engaging the connecting wall, the

edge portion of the longer rectangular panel engaging an inner corner ofsaid carton.

4. A blank for a wheel packing brace, comprising a sheet of paperboardcut and creased to define a plurality of serially connected panelsincluding a first substantially rectangular panel, a pair of equal andopposite trapezial panels hinged to opposite edges of the first panel, asecond substantially rectangular panel hinged to an edge of on of thetrapezial panels opposite the first panel, the rectangular panels havingsimilar recesses in corresponding edges spaced from the side edges andshaped to the cross section of the circumferential portion of a wheelfor which the brace is adapted, a third rectangular panel substantiallyidentical to said second panel and hinged to an edge of the othertrapezial panel opposite the first panel, and a fourth rectangular panelsubstantially identical to said second panel and hingedly connected tothe edge of the second panel parallel to the crossed edge thereof, therecessed edge of the fourth panel extending parallel to its hinged edge.

CHARLES R. ROTHE. JULIAN DESPOSITO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,233,454 Dietsche July 17, 191'?1,250,937 Achert Dec. 25, 191'? 2,011,383 Taylor Aug. 13, 1935 2,261,280Pennebaker et al. Nov. 4, 1941 2,479,453 Amatel Aug. 16, 1949 2,490,186Yarman Dec. 6, 1949

